Hosiery inspection apparatus

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection which includes pairs of garment-holding elements having downturned ends which are inserted into the garments, the outer holding elements of each pair being pivotally mounted upon a support for horizontal movement, and pneumatic means for moving the pivoted elements about their pivots to a diverging relation to spread and hold the garments and to a substantially parallel relation to release the garments. A garment packaging receptacle is held below the garment being inspected, and a burst of air through the pivoted holding elements into the garment positively ejects the garment from the holders. The air release is under control of the means for moving the holding elements toward one another.

1, M m 1 es mi 11 1 1111 fifi3fifi Ezelll et al. May 1, 1973 1541HOSHEPY INSPECTION APPARATUS 1,046,561 12/1912 Powell et al ..223 43 1 111, R d, [76] Inventors Me vm P1 Eze 813 omany Roa Primary Exammer G V-Larkm Charlotte, NC. 28203, Troy B. Tal- A" Th B v p 1 et a] ley, Route4, Concord, NC. 28025 Omey" Omas e [22] Filed: June 22, 1971 [57]ABSTRACT [21] Appl. No.: 155,578 Apparatus for holding tubular garmentsduring inspection which includes pairs of garment-holding elementshaving downturned ends which are inserted into the [52] US. Cl ..223/72garments, the Outer holding elements of each pair being p ny mounted p app for horizontal [58] Field of Search ..223/6l, 63, 72-74, movement,and pneumatic means for moving the 223/751 pivoted elements about theirpivots to a diverging relation to spread and hold the garments and to asubstan- [56] References and tially parallel relation to release thegarments. A garment packaging receptacle is held below the garmentUNITED STATES PATENTS being inspected, and a burst of air through thepivoted 775,975 1 1/1904 Iverson ..223/43 holding elements into thegarment positively ejects the 3,567,083 3/1971 Piilola 1. garment fromthe holders. The air release is under 3,207,391 9/1965 Richterkessing223/73 control of the means for moving the holding elements 3,495,7472/1970 Saltiel ..223/72 toward one another 3,471,068 10/1969 Foreman..223/74 X 3,357,609 12/1967 Oberrecht ..223/39 17 Claims, 4 DrawingFigures PATENT-EU rarcr 1 ms SHEET 1 BF 2 INVENTORS Taov B.TALLEY 5 m 5CLLhJZu-Q ATTORNEYS BY was BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This inventionrelates to apparatus for use in holding an article for inspection andreleasing the article into a packaging container after inspection, andmore particularly to such apparatus for use in inspecting garments, suchas ladies hose, panti-hose, and the like.

It is customary to inspect garments after manufacture to determine ifthey contain imperfections. With knit garments of generally tubularform, inspection has usually been made while the garment is on a form,or board, or while in place over an inspection tube. In either case, thegarment must be drawn over the inspection device to spread it, and,after inspection, pulled from the inspection form. Sometimes, when atube is used, suction will be applied to the tube interior to draw thegarment from the form while simultaneously everting it.

With the advent of panti-hose, inspection became more complex due to thebifurcated nature of the garment. The former types of inspection formswere no longer suitable, and new means requiring more handling of thegarments were used. As each manual handling of the garment increases thelikelihood of damage, simplified procedures were desirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The general object of the present invention isto provide apparatus for use in inspecting panti-hose and similargarments which will reduce the number of manual handling operations ofthe garment, and so reduce the chances of damage.

A more specific object is to provide means to spread, and hold, agarment for inspection, and automatically release the garment into apackaging receptacle after inspection.

A further object is to provide a device of this kind which willpositively eject the garment from the holder after inspection.

Another object is the provision of such a device having means to spreadthe garment after the garment is in place, so that it is not necessaryto spread it as it is being put upon the inspection holder.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a garment inspectionholder which will release its garment-spreading action before ejectingthe garment, so that there will be no friction between the garment andholder during release of the garment.

Another object is to provide a device of this nature which will spreadthe parity portion ofa bifurcated garment of the panti-hose type andsimultaneously spread each leg, so that the wholegarment will be spreadfor inspection.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the followingdescription of one practical embodiment thereof, when taken with thedrawings which accompany, and form part of, thisspecification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of theimproved garment holder with a garment in place but before spreading,the spread position being shownin dotted lines;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the. holder and its operating mechanism, thesupporting standjbeing broken away;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of mechanism shown in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view of the electrical and fluid controls ofthe device.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings indetail, the improved inspection and packaging device 1 is shown asmounted upon a support stand 2. The mechanism for holding a garment forinspection and positively removing the garment after inspection isindicated generally at 3 at the top of the stand. A package, or bag,holding means is shown at 4, mounted on the stand below the garmentholder.

The garment holding mechanism 3 is mounted at the top of the supportstand 2 upon a horizontal platform 5. It includes pairs ofgarment-spreader arms 6, and operating means 7 for spreading andretracting the arms. Each pair of arms 6 consists of a fixed arm 8 and amovable arm 9. Arms 9 are pivotally mounted at spaced points upon atransverse plate 10 secured to the end of platform 5 and extendingtransversely to opposite sides of the platform. The arm pivots 11 arelocated equidistant on opposite sides of the platform. A tie plate 12 ispositioned over the arms 9 and receives the upper ends of the pivots.Each arm 9 carries a forwardly projecting tube 13 which has a downturnedend 14, that serves as a garment supporting member and a blow-down tube,as will be described. The spreader arms have air passages 15communicating with the tubes 13 and connected to air hoses 16.

Fixed arms 8 are similar to the tubular portions 13 of the movable arms9, and are substantially coextensive with those portions. Each arm 8 hasa horizontal section 17 and a downturned end 18. The ends of thehorizontal sections 17 are fixed to a mounting bracket 19 carried at theouter edge of the transverse mounting plate 10, between the movable arms9. A connector 20 is fitted on the horizontal sections of arms 8adjacent the downturned ends to hold the arms 8 in fixed, parallelrelation. When the arms 9 are in retracted, inoperative position, theylie closely adjacent the fixed arms, on either side of those arms, andsubstantially parallel to them. While it is not essential that the armsof the pairs occupy a parallel relationship when inoperative, thisarrangement provides compactness and practicability.

In order to provide for movement of the spreader arms 9, the rear endsare bifurcated to receive the ends of spreader links 21. The links arepivotally connected to the spreader arms, as at 22, and have theiropposite ends pivotally interconnected and attached to a fork 23 by apivot 24. The fork is mounted on the end of a piston rod 25 of an aircylinder 26, fixed to the platform 5 above the support stand 2. Movementof the piston in the cylinder causes the fork 23 to move longitudinallyof the platform and the links 21 to rock the spreader arms 9 about theirpivots to separate and draw together the tubes 13, to engage and hold agarment for inspection and release it for removal, as will be describedin detail.

In order to determine a garment-release position for the spreader arms 9and tubes 13, an adjustable stop 27 is provided. The stop includes abracket 28, mounted upon platform 5, and a stop screw 29 threadedthrough the bracket. The end of the stop screw is in the path ofmovement of fork 23, and contact of the fork with the screw stopsforward movement of the fork and garment-release movement of thespreader arms 9. Normally, the stop screw will be adjusted so that thefork will be stopped when the spreader arms 9 and tubes 13 are inapproximate parallelism with each other and the fixed arms 8.

Fork 23 also carries a switch-operating finger 30 on one side to strike,and operate, the trigger 31 ofa micro switch 32 seated upon the platform5. Trigger 31 is operated only on the forward stroke of the fork, andpivots out of the path of the trigger on the return stroke. The switchis positioned so as to be operated just prior to contact of the forkwith the stop screw 29 to release air to the blow-down tubes just beforethe spreader arms reach their fully retracted, or release, position.

Referring to FIG. 4, it will be seen that a hose 33 leads from a sourceof air under pressure to the airoperated parts of the unit. A solenoidoperated valve 34 in a hose line 35, coupled to supply line 33, controlsoperation of the air cylinder 26. Hose lines 36 and 37 lead from thesolenoid valve to opposite ends of cylinder 26. Another hose line 38extends from the supply line 33 to the spreader arm hoses 16. A solenoidoperated valve 39 is in the line 38 to control flow of air to thespreader arms 9 and blow-down tubes 13.

The valves 34 and 39 operate by suitable electric control circuits.Solenoid 40 of valve 34 is connected by wire 41 to power line 42, and bywire 43 to return line 44. A manually operated switch 45, preferably afoot-operated switch, is in wire 41 and opens and closes the circuit tothe solenoid. Switch 45 is a normally open switch. Wire 46 connectssolenoid 47 of valve 39 to power line 42, and wire 48 connects it to thereturn line 44. The normally-open micro switch 32 is in the line 46 andcontrols flow of current to solenoid 47.

When the device is to be used, the air supply will be on and electricitywill be available in the electrical supply lines. At this time, thevarious controls will be in the positions shown in FIG. 4. Switches 32and 45 will be open, air valve 39 will be closed, and valve 34 will beat its at-rest position with air in line 36 and the back end of cylinder26. This will hold fork 23 forward against stop screw 29, and themovable spreader arms 9 and tubes 13 in their approximately parallel,garmentrelease position, closely adjacent the fixed arms 8. A bag 49, toreceive the inspected garment, will be placed upon bag holder 4, and agarment to be inspected will be drawn upward over the down-turned ends14 of the tubes 13. If the garment is a bifurcated one, such as pantihose, the panty portion will be drawn over the tubes 13, and one tube 13and one fixed arm 8 will enter each leg. The operator will press hisfoot upon switch 45, closing the circuit through solenoid 40. This willshift valve 34 to break communication between air line 36 and the supplyline and open line 37 to the air supply. The piston in cylinder 26 willimmediately draw back, moving fork 23 rearwardly. This movement causeslinks 21 to pull in, swinging the spreader arms 9 about their pivots 11and moving the tubular garment holders divergently to engage the garmentsides and stretch the garment for inspecting. The garment body portionwill be stretched between the tubes 13 of the movable arms, and the legswill be stretched indepen dently between a movable arm and its adjacentfixed arm. When inspection is finished, switch 45 is released todeenergize solenoid 40 and permit valve 34 to return to its biased,inoperative position. This discontinues air to hose 37 and reestablishescommunication with hose 36. The piston in cylinder 26 moves forward,advancing fork 23 and causing the garment-holding tubes to move towardone another, and the tubes of the fixed arms to relieve the tension inthe inspected garment. As fork 27 nears contact with stop screw 29,finger 30 will strike trigger 31 of micro switch 32 and close theswitch. Solenoid 47 will be activated to open valve 39 and allow air toflow through spreader arms 9 and tubes 13. The downward force of airemerging from the lower ends of the downturned portions 14 will strikethe inner surfaces of the inspected garment and positively pull it fromthe holders and force it into the underhanging bag 49. Actuation ofvalve 39 is only momentary, as fork 23 continues its movement untilcontact with the stop screw 29 is made. At this time, valve 39 is closedand the garment-holding tubes 13 are in their retracted positionadjacent fixed arms 8. Air in the hose 36 will hold the parts in thisposition until foot switch 45 is closed again.

This device is very effective in its operation, and greatly reduces themanual handling of garments to be inspected. It is necessary only tolift the garment upward over the holding tubes, and subsequent handlingis done automatically. The machine spreads the garment with a gentleforce, releases the tension and blows the garment into a bag held belowthe inspection point. The operator need only hold the garment in placeand close the foot switch, the inspection device completes the operationand returns to its position of rest, ready to repeat the cycle when thefoot switch is again closed.

Although the disclosure of the invention has included pairs of arms,with one arm of each pair being fixed and the other movable to providefor spreading the separate leg portions as well as the body portion ofpanti hose type garments, cylindrical garments can be spread forinspection by utilizing only the movable arms of each pair. By havingthe movable arms spaced sufficiently close to one another, the devicecan be used to hold hosiery for inspection, in which case the fixed armswill serve no function. Of course, the fixed arms can be dispensed withfor tubular garment inspection only.

While in the above one practical embodiment of the invention has beendisclosed, it will be understood that the specific details ofconstruction shown and described are merely by way of illustration, andthe invention may take other forms within the scope of the appendedclaims.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection comprising,a support, a pair of garment-holding arms pivotally mounted upon thesupport and having downturned ends remote from the pivotal mountings toreceive garments to be inspected, means on the support to move the armsto diverging relation to spread the downturned ends and hold a garmentand to move the arms toward one another to release the garment, means torelease a burst of air through the downturned ends of thegarment-holding arms to eject a garment from the garment-holding arms,and means operable during movement of the garment-holding arms towardone another to control the air release means.

2. Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection comprising,a support, a pair of garmenbholding arms pivotally mounted intermediatetheir ends upon the support with each arm having a downturned end, thedownturned ends adapted to receive garments to be inspected, linkageinterconnecting the arm ends remote from the downturned ends, apneumatic cylinder assembly mounted on the support and connected to thelinkage to move the linkage to pivot the arms and spread the retract thedownturned garmentholding ends of the arms to hold a garment upon thedownturned ends and release them therefrom, means to release a burst ofair through the downturned ends of the garment-holding arms to eject agarment from the downturned arm ends, and means operable during armretraction operation of the cylinder assembly to control the air releasemeans.

3. Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection as claimedin claim 2 wherein, there is a valve to control operation of thecylinder assembly, and an electric circuit including a switch foroperating the valve.

4. Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection as claimedin claim 3 wherein, the means to release a burst of air is a secondvalve, and a second switch in the electric circuit controlling thesecond valve.

5. Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection as claimedin claim 4 wherein, the second switch is a micro switch, and the meansto control the micro switch is a striker arm carried by the cylinderassembly and operable only on garment release movement of the cylinderassembly.

6. Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection as claimedin claim 4 wherein, the first mentioned switch is a foot-operatedswitch.

7. Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection as claimedin claim 6 wherein, there are means on the support below the downturnedends of the garment-holding arms to hold a packaging receptacle for thegarment into which the garment will be blown by a burst of air from thedownturned ends of the garmentholding arms.

8. Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection comprising,a support, a pair of garment-holding arms pivotally mounted upon thesupport and having downturned ends remote from the pivotal mountings toreceive garments to be inspected, means on the support to move the armsto diverging relation to spread the downturned ends and hold a garmentand to move the arms toward one another to release the ment-holdingarms, and means operable during movement of the garment-holding armstoward one another to control the air release means.

10. Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection as claimedin claim 9 wherein, the pivotal mounting of the garment-holding arms isintermediate the garment-holding arm ends and the means for spreadingthe garment-holding arms includes linkage interconnecting thegarment-holding arm ends remote from the downturned ends.

11. Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection as claimedin claim 10 wherein, there is a pneumatic cylinder assembly mounted onthe support and connected to the linkage to move the linkage to spreadand retract the garment-holding arms.

12. Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection as claimedin claim 11 wherein, there are means to release a burst of air throughthe garmentholding arms downturned ends to eject a garment from thegarment-holding arms, and means operable during garment releaseoperation of the cylinder assembly to control the air release means.

13. Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection as claimedin claim 12 wherein, there is a valve to control operation of thecylinder assembly, and an electric circuit including a switch foroperating the valve.

14. Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection as claimedin claim 13 wherein, the means to release a burst of air is a secondvalve, and a second switch in the electric circuit controlling thesecond valve.

15. Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection as claimedin claim 14 wherein, the second switch is a micro switch, and the meansto control the micro switch is a striker arm carried by the cylinderassembly and operable only on garment release movement of the cylinderassembly.

16. Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection as claimedin claim 15 wherein, the first mentioned switch is a foot-operatedswitch.

17. Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection as claimedin claim 10 wherein, there are means on the support below the downturnedends of the garment-holding arms to hold a packaging receptacle for thegarment into which the garment will be blown by a burst ofair from thedownturned ends of the garment-holding arms.

1. Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection comprising,a support, a pair of garment-holding arms pivotally mounted upon thesupport and having downturned ends remote from the pivotal mountings toreceive garments to be inspected, means on the support to move the armsto diverging relation to spread the downturned ends and hold a garmentand to move the arms toward one another to release the garment, means torelease a burst of air through the downturned ends of thegarment-holding arms to eject a garment from the garment-holding arms,and means operable during movement of the garment-holding arms towardone another to control the air release means.
 2. Apparatus for holdingtubular garments during inspection comprising, a support, a pair ofgarment-holding arms pivotally mounted intermediate their ends upon thesupport with each arm having a downturned end, the downturned endsadapted to receive garments to be inspected, linkage interconnecting thearm ends remote from the downturned ends, a pneumatic cylinder assemblymounted on the support and connected to the linkage to move the linkageto pivot the arms and spread the retract the downturned garment-holdingends of the arms to hold a garment upon the downturned ends and releasethem therefrom, means to release a burst of air through the downturnedends of the garment-holding arms to eject a garment from the downturnedarm ends, and means operable during arm retraction operation of thecylinder assembly to control the air release means.
 3. Apparatus forholding tubular garments during inspection as claimed in claim 2wherein, there is a valve to control operation of the cylinder assembly,and an electric circuit including a switch for operating the valve. 4.Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection as claimed inclaim 3 wherein, the means to release a burst of air is a second valve,and a second switch in the electric circuit controlling the secondvalve.
 5. Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection asclaimed in claim 4 wherein, the second switch is a miCro switch, and themeans to control the micro switch is a striker arm carried by thecylinder assembly and operable only on garment release movement of thecylinder assembly.
 6. Apparatus for holding tubular garments duringinspection as claimed in claim 4 wherein, the first mentioned switch isa foot-operated switch.
 7. Apparatus for holding tubular garments duringinspection as claimed in claim 6 wherein, there are means on the supportbelow the downturned ends of the garment-holding arms to hold apackaging receptacle for the garment into which the garment will beblown by a burst of air from the downturned ends of the garment-holdingarms.
 8. Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspectioncomprising, a support, a pair of garment-holding arms pivotally mountedupon the support and having downturned ends remote from the pivotalmountings to receive garments to be inspected, means on the support tomove the arms to diverging relation to spread the downturned ends andhold a garment and to move the arms toward one another to release thegarment, and a pair of fixed arms carried by the support intermediatethe garment-holding arms and having downturned ends adjacent thedownturned ends of the garment-holding arms.
 9. Apparatus for holdingtubular garments during inspection as claimed in claim 8 wherein, thereare means to release a burst of air through the garment-holding armsdownturned ends to eject a garment from the garment-holding arms, andmeans operable during movement of the garment-holding arms toward oneanother to control the air release means.
 10. Apparatus for holdingtubular garments during inspection as claimed in claim 9 wherein, thepivotal mounting of the garment-holding arms is intermediate thegarment-holding arm ends and the means for spreading the garment-holdingarms includes linkage interconnecting the garment-holding arm endsremote from the downturned ends.
 11. Apparatus for holding tubulargarments during inspection as claimed in claim 10 wherein, there is apneumatic cylinder assembly mounted on the support and connected to thelinkage to move the linkage to spread and retract the garment-holdingarms.
 12. Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection asclaimed in claim 11 wherein, there are means to release a burst of airthrough the garment-holding arms downturned ends to eject a garment fromthe garment-holding arms, and means operable during garment releaseoperation of the cylinder assembly to control the air release means. 13.Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection as claimed inclaim 12 wherein, there is a valve to control operation of the cylinderassembly, and an electric circuit including a switch for operating thevalve.
 14. Apparatus for holding tubular garments during inspection asclaimed in claim 13 wherein, the means to release a burst of air is asecond valve, and a second switch in the electric circuit controllingthe second valve.
 15. Apparatus for holding tubular garments duringinspection as claimed in claim 14 wherein, the second switch is a microswitch, and the means to control the micro switch is a striker armcarried by the cylinder assembly and operable only on garment releasemovement of the cylinder assembly.
 16. Apparatus for holding tubulargarments during inspection as claimed in claim 15 wherein, the firstmentioned switch is a foot-operated switch.
 17. Apparatus for holdingtubular garments during inspection as claimed in claim 10 wherein, thereare means on the support below the downturned ends of thegarment-holding arms to hold a packaging receptacle for the garment intowhich the garment will be blown by a burst of air from the downturnedends of the garment-holding arms.